Are Golf Estates Really Becoming Detrimental to Agriculture in South Africa?

Golf estates, together with game farms, were given a bit of a pasting by the incumbent Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs in South Africa recently.

Viewed as elitist and unnecessary developments gobbling up both prime agricultural land and scarce water recourses, the Minister would like to see a restriction placed on any future golf estates.

Minister Lulu Xingwane is perturbed at the recent decline in crop production at a time when the population is growing and the supply of food is only just meeting the demand.

A recent worldwide shortage of rice and the inability of neighbouring Zimbabwe to feed its people have turned the spotlight fully onto diminishing food resources. This has, in turn, led to much finger-pointing both in South Africa and aboard.

Although there may be some credence to Xingwane’s concern, no empirical study has been conducted to determine the advantages of commercial farming over either golf resorts or game farms and there are plenty of experts out there who believe quite the opposite regarding golf real estate.

There are several acts that effectively entrench environmental legislation, whether farm land, conservation areas or golf estates. So if golf developers have followed the letter of the law, there is no reason to assume they are resource guzzlers.

According to the Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act (Act 43 of 1983), all natural agricultural resources are protected by law and this pertains to golf estate development as well. Included in the Act:

Recent studies by golf gurus have indicated that as much as 70% of the average golf course in South Africa is actually made up of the rough and other non-playing areas.

These areas have generally been fully rehabilitated by the developers with the water-sucking, invasive plant species making way for indigenous plants, trees and shrubs that form a pristine habitat full of all sorts of wild life.

The remaining 30% may well be lost to the indigenous inhabitants but the golf course turf, with its dense root system, has plenty of benefits too. These include

Although there are no statistics concerning the use of land before it was zoned for golf development, many golf playgrounds have been constructed on landfill sites and areas severely damaged by mining.

The other area of concern is the massive amount of water used to irrigate golf courses. An estimated 10,800,000 litres of water are used per annum per golf course but the vast majority of them, particularly those found on the Garden route, use recycled sewage or even desalination plants to keep the greens and fairways in pristine condition.

Every proposed golf estate has to undergo an environmental impact study that is scrutinised by the relevant authorities. It is therefore disingenuous to even suggest there is no control or regulation of golf estates in South Africa and that they are detrimental to agriculture in South Africa.